Tag Archives: Tokunaga Chinami

Kumai-san begins by talking about having a cake smeared on her face on her last birthday. It was the first time in her life she’d experienced it and she discovered that having cake all over her face made the task of breathing much harder. It was something she’d wanted to experience at least once in her life, but she can now safely say that it wasn’t very pleasant.

Chii looks back on their Tanabata Live and says she felt a huge sense of accomplishment in pulling it off successfully since Berryz had a larger than usual role in its planning. This among other things made her feel like she’s really grown up some, but adds that on the flip side, she still feels like a complete newbie when it comes to doing BZS1422. Even now she feels really nervous on the days leading up to the recording, and earlier today, she still hadn’t come up with material for a corner on the show even when arriving at the studio to record — luckily, she just found out that they don’t actually have that specific corner on the show today.

September 10th & 11th

Since this is actually the first time they’re recording BZS1422 after Berryz Koubou’s concerts with °C-ute at Budokan on September 10th and 11th, they want to talk about that now. Kumai-san says she had so much fun it felt like the concerts were over in a flash, and Chii says she was probably more nervous on °C-ute no Hi even though Berryz only appeared for a couple of songs, and that her nervousness continued even afterwards when they were just watching °C-ute’s performance backstage.

Kumai-san was watching °C-ute’s dress rehearsal in the audience when she realized that when the performing artists walk on the middle runway stage, they’re actually really, really close to the audience — she could even see Maimi’s sweat! It made Kumai-san feel embarrassed thinking about how she, too, could be seen so up close. Chii says this is the first time in years that she properly watched a full °C-ute concert live, and the first thing that struck her about it was how much movement there was compared to Berryz; °C-ute’s choreographies looked a lot more intense to her.

Continue reading →

Like Meimei and Take-chan on SS1422, Chii and Kumai-san begin by talking about the Respect for the Aged Day. Kumai-san says she hasn’t gotten to see her grandparents a lot recently so she’s thinking about shooting them an email on this occasion. She says her grandpa is using a lot of emoticons in his emails as of late, and he tends to pick the really cute ones: it won’t be just a single “♪”, but more like two or three, etc.

Chii visited her grandparents the other day and they treated her to a meal. They have a teppanyaki grill at home and instead of eating themselves, they just kept bringing Chii more and more delicious meat for her to have which once again made her realize just how kind they are. Kumai-san says they must find their granddaughter adorable, and Chii says she is really thankful. As one way of showing her gratitude, Chii always waves to them in their 2nd floor seats when they’ve come over to see Berryz in concert, and her grandma will respond by excitedly waving both her hands at her.

Chii notes that a year ago they were extremely busy doing the “Warera Jeanne” musical — they’d be practicing from 10 in the morning until 9 in the evening. Kumai-san adds that because they were practicing below ground they didn’t even know how it looked outside which made it even tougher. Chii says that they were so busy, she doesn’t have many memories of that time period: it was an endless repetition of sleep, practice, sleep, practice, sleep… with the occasional radio appearance.

Continue reading →

Chii asks Kumai-san what the month of September signifies to her, who answers that for her it means the period in which one has to switch gears after the summer vacation, which can definitely lead to a bit of melancholy. Chii notes that September kind of feels like the second May Disease of the year: the seasons are changing, the weather is bad, and the city just kind of feels grey. Overall, it’s a bit of a downer of a month.

Chii appears to remember something, chuckling. She says that on the upside, September also has °C-ute no Hi. The two immediately take back everything they’ve just said and agree that September is a fantastic month.

The two note that this is the first time in five weeks that they’re hosting the show just by the two of them, and agree that doing so feels more laidback somehow.

The studio today is also different from the one they’re usually recording BZS1422 in, and they report that Chii’s microphone was acting up before they started and earlier they even heard some weird sounds coming from the direction of the door. Thus, they’re not really all that happy with this studio. It’s actually where they used to record before moving to their current one. After the move, the two used to say that they preferred the earlier studio; Kumai-san guesses that this must be why the staff brought them back to record here again, but it’s just no good now.

Chii announces that the staff are staring at them in disbelief right now.

Continue reading →

Since it’s summer and all, Chii asks if Kumai-san is suffering from summer fatigue who replies that she actually slightly is. The two start talking about why everyone always gets so fatigued during the summer — everyone loses their appetite and doesn’t feel like doing anything because it’s simply too hot. Kumai-san inquires if Chii is suffering from summer fatigue herself. Chii says she isn’t and says it’s all psychological: when you think about how it’s summer and how you might start feeling fatigued, it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. “Sickness and health start with the mind,” as Kumai-san notes, and Chii says that’s exactly it and that 30% of all Japanese people are definitely suffering from this. Chii starts getting more and more fired up talking about this subject:

Chii: The thing about summer fatigue is… sure, you might not feel motivated to do anything. But think about it: do you feel motivated to do anything in the winter either?!
Kumai-san: (laughs)
Chii: The fact of the matter is, you’re actually unmotivated the whole year round, but since it just happens to be summer, you start blaming it on a convenient word like “summer fatigue” even though that’s not what it really is!

Kumai-san agrees that it might indeed be partly psychological. In any case, Kumai-chan suggests that eating lots and lots of ice cream is a good way of fighting off summer fatigue. Chii says she isn’t so sure if that’s really a good option for your body either, but agrees that everyone should be careful of summer fatigue. But, as she reminds us, just remember that it might be psychological — you might not really be suffering from it, even if you think you are. (Do note that I don’t think Up-Front will take any responsibility in case of possible death or injury resulting from trusting Chii’s self-diagnosing advice.)

Continue reading →